Chapter Text
I’ve had… a pretty terrible day to be honest.
It’s been a while since Willow and I talked. We used to be friends, and I’m pretty sure we still are, but she’s been caught up in her own thing, and I’ve been caught up in mine. I have to work hard to keep up my grades and earn my status as Top Student, so I can’t afford to hang around her. She’d probably just distract me, considering how terrible she is at this class. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been constantly failing because she always focuses on plants instead.
But at the same time, I’ve been doing well, and I already wrote last time about how my Abomination project has been going along perfectly! So on the way to school this morning, I figure… Why not drop by, talk to Willow for a bit? Maybe reconnect. I AM the top student and I’m doing pretty well. Willow and I have been friends since we were kids, so I figured I might offer a helping hand to her! We haven’t really interacted much beyond me trying to encourage her in my own way.
I’m not good with small-talk in general, but Ed and Em are. They get on my nerves a lot and I know they’re jerks, but they’re also my siblings? They say they care for me, even after all of the harsh things they do. And yeah, they’re awful and slackers, but they can’t be bad at everything, right? So I figured I might as well drop in with an opener on Willow, crack a few jokes- That’s what Ed and Em do with me all the time. All I did was point out the obvious- That I was better than her at school and that Willow needed to up her game! After all, I worked harder than her or anyone else to get my badge, so I at least deserve to feel a little proud of myself!
Of course, Willow’s Abomination is a mess. How can anyone stand to just… NOT do well in class? It can be hard even for me to keep up, but doesn’t it bother anyone else to not do what they’re supposed to do? She really needs some discipline. I offer to give Willow some pointers later on, tried encouraging her a little while reminding her of what she could be. I then headed on to school and I thought I handled that pretty well, but…
In class, everyone else was doing terrible, and Professor Varote threatened to give us all homework if the next project failed. I knew Willow was up next, and I knew how her Abomination turned out, so I decided to be a little nice and do another friend-favor by volunteering next! I managed to distract Mr Varote, and he even called my work the best and gave me an A+! He said he always saved me best for last, and I knew that from experience!
But… here’s where my day began to go downhill. It’s Willow’s turn to present, and earlier I saw her Abomination. It was barely even a puddle with an eye, but then when she told it to rise, it suddenly jumps out, fully-formed and speaking in coherent sentences! It’s even smart enough to make puns!
And… I’ve seen a few breakthroughs and miracles, or at least heard about them. Ed and Em have relied on natural talent to get through class all the time. But Willow’s definitely not talented, and even if she were, her Abomination was a mess just minutes ago! Something was up and Willow was cheating, which… ugh. There was no doubt about it, and I hated cheaters. I get that she’s struggling like everyone else, but shouldn’t she have some integrity? If you’re failing in class, then maybe you deserve to fail, especially when you resort to cheating and spitting on everyone else’s hard work!
I was thinking about giving Willow a lecture after school about the whole thing, but then as I was leaving class, Mr Varote suddenly took my Top Student badge and gave it to Willow! Even though I’ve always worked hard and gotten a consistent grade, Willow cheated once and suddenly she gets to steal my badge! You know, the badge I worked and studied HOURS, every day, for!
So, I call her out on it. I tell Willow that I know she’s cheating, and that she can’t just get away with this sort of thing. I didn’t know how she pulled off that stunt with her Abomination… maybe it was someone else’s… But either way I went off to my next class.
It was at lunch when I realized it- I was a few tables away, mostly reading because I forgot to bring my lunch again. I was keeping an eye on Willow and her Abomination, when I saw that Abomination eat a sandwich! Abominations don’t eat, it’s entirely antithetical to their whole nature and purpose as a construct!
And, I was having a bad day already- I LOST my Top Student badge. It felt like I extended a hand of friendship to Willow, and then she took advantage of it to cheat and take my reward. I wasn’t sure what was up with that thing, but it definitely wasn’t an Abomination, so I went over and called it out on its slip-up! Willow’s thing suddenly started playing dumb, as if it wasn’t making puns earlier, but before I could get any answers Mr. Varote sent me to Principal Bump’s office for ‘causing trouble’!
I… I’ve NEVER gone to the principal’s office before. I’ve been the perfect student, I’ve followed every rule! It wasn’t FAIR that I got in trouble while Willow obviously cheated and got away with stealing my badge! I’m not like Ed and Em! Why was I being punished while someone else got away with it?!
I tried not to cry on the way to the Principal’s Office. Like I said, I’ve never been there before. Still, I figure I might as well prepare my case before I presented it to Principal Bump. He’s been teaching at Hexside since forever, and Ms. Lilith told me all about how he’s a really responsible, understanding person! So, maybe it won’t be so bad!
Principal Bump was surprised to see me there, especially since usually he saw Ed and Em instead. I quickly explained what happened, how it wasn’t my fault, etc. I was halfway through explaining Willow’s weirdly sentient Abomination when he really got interested, because it apparently reminded him of some incident that happened a bunch of years ago. He said he wanted to take a closer look at Willow’s Abomination, and…
Things were looking up! I realized I had Willow and her co-conspirator red-handed, so I agreed to take Bump to her so he could examine and even dissect the ‘Abomination’! Obviously I didn’t think he’d actually go away with it, there was no way Willow or her accomplice would let it happen- They’d have to admit the truth before any actual harm got done! Then I could get my Top Student badge back, and as for Willow… I wasn’t sure what would happen, but she’d obviously get in trouble. I dunno, I wasn’t sure if I should care for someone who cheated, stole my badge, and got me in trouble!
Bump and I eventually found Willow with her ‘Abomination’ and her friend from the Illusion Track. We were about to catch them red-handed in their scheme, when suddenly Willow’s friend made a mess of a bunch of Abominations! I got distracted and Willow and her accomplice ran off, and Bump tried to use the security system to catch them. He went ahead with his own Abominations, and I tried to follow him but then Willow’s friend used his illusions to trick me into going down the wrong corridor!
I still managed to catch up to the others when I heard a huge noise, and when I arrived there were plants everywhere. It was like a jungle had come to life, and I wasn’t sure how Willow did it –probably by cheating- but she was getting away along with that fake Abomination thing! I tried to salvage the situation and showed off my own skills with Abominations, but Willow still managed to get the faker out of the school. Before either of us could continue, Bump freed himself from some vines and immediately told the two of us to head to his office, NOW.
I tried to keep a cool face, but honestly I couldn’t and I could feel my face reddening as I tried not to lose my breath. I sat with Willow’s friend outside the office while Willow went inside with Bump, and I tried not to look at the dweebus as we waited. I managed to calm myself down, figured that this WASN’T a bad thing- Yeah the Not-Abomination got away, but Willow still got caught! She’d get punished, her grade would be revoked, and I’d get back my badge!
But then Willow and Bump came out, and Willow looked happy for some reason. She handed me back my badge, and at first I was happy, but then I remembered how she stole it anyway… And then Bump explained that Willow was going to move over to the Plant Track now!
Then Willow and her friend left, and I… I don’t know what to think. I asked Principal Bump if my work with the Abominations earlier could count as extra credit, and if my trip to his office would still count on my record. He said no to both of those, but it was better than nothing. At the time, I was just glad my parents didn’t find out, or else they’d be really mad and disappointed at me, and then Ed and Em would start making fun of me about it, and…
This day sucked. I THOUGHT I could start hanging out with Willow again. I haven’t really talked or hung out with anyone since forever. Mostly I just hang around at school, then the library, and then I go home. I thought, maybe… Maybe the two of us could have fun together, like old times.
But then… BUT THEN SHE STOLE MY BADGE AND GOT ME IN TROUBLE! She made me look like a dumb, stupid idiot in front of the whole cafeteria and Mr. Varote! I still got to keep my badge, but Willow didn’t even get in trouble! She just switched over to another track, and… a part of me is GLAD I don’t have to see her stupid face again, but I just…
I REALLY was kind of hoping we could be friends again! I thought that, maybe if I spent some of my time for studying on hanging out, reconnecting, tutoring, it could be like old times! That she could get good at classes, that we could BOTH graduate with honors… Maybe even the both of us could one day be in the Emperor’s Coven!
But I guess not. I tried to be nice and THIS happens to me. I know I still got to keep my badge and sort of got justice… But again, not really, Willow still didn’t get punished, just like Ed and Em and everyone else while I got yelled at. I thought I could count on her to still be a friend, to be someone I could rely on… but I guess not. I can’t count on anyone besides my teachers.
I’m so stupid. Why did I even think it could work out?!